Magic President Meets With Stern

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, January 10, 2002

The president of the Orlando Magic met with NBA commissioner David Stern, reportedly to discuss finding a partner to buy a 49 percent share in the team.

The Orlando Sentinel reported Friday on the meeting, citing sources within the Magic and the NBA office.

Stern and Magic officials did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday. The NBA would confirm only that there was a meeting in New York between Stern and Magic president Bob Vander Weide.

The DeVos family, which has owned the Magic since 1991, plans to keep the franchise in Orlando for the near future and will retain controlling interest, the Sentinel reported.

Magic chairman Rich DeVos contends the team is losing more than $10 million annually because its arena, T.D. Waterhouse Centre, doesn't have enough moneymaking amenities, such as midlevel suites.

The team has clashed with the city and county over a new arena, estimated to cost $250 million. In July, the county predicted that $79.2 million would be available by 2006 for a new arena _ less than two-thirds of what the Magic sought.

And the county's financial projection came before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which took a large bite out of the region's tourism industry.

"Any numbers that we talked about several months ago relative to the resort tax are off the table _ period," Orange County Chairman Richard Crotty said Friday.

Selling a minority stake could be a way for the owners to tell government leaders they're tired of haggling over a new arena.

"Part of this could be to send a signal to Orlando: 'You guys are not cooperating with me, this is not a good business for me,'" Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist said. "Maybe the team will be sold to somebody else eventually, and if it's sold, maybe they'll take it out of Orlando altogether.

The Magic's proposed use of the resort tax had been a sticking point in negotiations with the county.

The DeVos family bought the Magic from William DuPont III and his ownership group for $85 million in 1991. That price also included a minor-league baseball team, the Orlando Rays.

A year ago, Forbes magazine estimated the worth of the Magic at $165 million. If correct, the DeVos family could sell up to a 49 percent minority stake and net almost what it paid for the franchise 11 years ago.

Zimbalist acknowledged that for the DeVos family to put 49 percent of the team on the market now could pave the way to sell the remaining 51 percent later.

"(DeVos) could give the buyer the right of first refusal, or even an option to buy the rest of the team in two years or in four years," Zimbalist said. "In which case, it really is an exit strategy. He's just doing it in stages."